Wynn & Janel

If you are reading our profile and decide that our family is the right one for you, then we want you to know that we have been praying for you and your baby for many months now. We have prayed that God would keep you both safe and well and would continue to bless you and give you peace about your decision. If our family is not the right one for you, then we still thank God for giving you the courage and love for your baby to seek what is best for them. Your legacy for your child will be one of unselfish love. Preferred Gender: Either

Wynn Janel Job Description History Teacher/Basketball Coach Physical Therapist, Part-Time Education B.A. History & M.A. Education B.S. Biology, M.A. Teaching & M.S. Physical Therapy Favorites Hero Spiderman Hero Wonder Woman Memory with a Child Playing Football in the Snow with My Son Memory with a Child Reading at Bedtime Quality about my Spouse Patience Quality about my Spouse Humor Type of Music Pop Type of Music Country or Contemporary Christian Family Activity Swimming at the Pool Family Activity Swimming at the Pool Children Caleb-6 years old, Emma-5 years old

We have always talked openly to both of our children about Caleb's adoption story and as our children mature, and can better understand, we will explain to them why we chose adoption to complete our family. Even though Janel's belly could only carry one baby, our greatest desire was to have more children so we turned to adoption to add to our family. We can't imagine our family being completed any other way. We have received more joy (and sleepless nights) from the addition of our two children than we could have imagined just a few years prior to their arrival. Being parents is truly a blessing, regardless of how that was achieved.

Caleb has a very special scrapbook that we created chronicling his adoption journey. It contains every e-mail we sent to family/friends, and every memento and picture we took of his birth country during the five weeks we were in the Ukraine. Caleb was raised in an orphanage for the first fifteen months of his life, so we tried to capture as much as we could about his life prior to us adopting him. Our children also love to look at Emma's baby book and see the pictures of "Emma in mama's belly". We keep both of these books on a low shelf where our kids can pick them up and look at them anytime. This has led to our discussing how Caleb also grew in his first mama's (this is how we explain his birth mama to them in simple terms) belly, but she loves him so much that she gave him to us because she knew we would be able to love and care for him.

We would also openly discuss your child's adoption story by creating a life book for them. We want them to know about their first mama and how much she loves them. Our goal is for them to be proud of their own adoption journey and to feel that adoption is very natural and precious and to realize they are cherished by many people.

Every night since our children were very small our bedtime rituals have been bath, brush teeth and then we cuddle in bed to read books that everyone has chosen. After our bedtime stories we take turns saying our prayers. Since we began to consider adopting again, we have been praying each night for the baby that God has for our family. Our children have now added prayer for the "new baby" to their prayers. However, we were touched the other night when our daughter prayed the following, "God, I pray for Caleb's mama who carried him in her belly that you would give her enough money to have everything she needs. Amen." It was a humble reminder to us that we need to pray not only for the baby that God has to join our family, but also for that baby's mama too.

Playing in the Snow

We love the simple things in life to share with our children. Tickle sessions on the floor, board games on a rainy day, "horsey" rides in the yard, picnics in the park and feeding the ducks at the pond, and evening walks with our dogs are just some of the simple activities we share with our children. We also enjoy playing sports together like basketball, soccer, waffle ball or football. Of course, we don't always play according to the rules, but to learn the skills of the game and to have fun. We have a membership at our local pool and spend many days of the week there during the summertime. We also have memberships to our local zoo and enjoy spending the day at the zoo several times throughout the year as well.